An ankle brace has been disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,489 in which a generally U-shaped stirrup member has a base portion and a pair of opposed side wall portions attached to the base portion. When the stirrup member is fitted about the lower extremity of the leg, the side wall portions engage the lateral and medial portions of the ankle. A plurality of fastener straps are provided to maintain the side wall portions of the stirrup member snugly fitted about the lower leg above the ankle. The fastener straps each is a two-inch wide strip of pressure sensitive hook Velcro welded to a length of loop Velcro. The hook portion is adhesively attached to the outer shell of the side wall portion with the upper strap at an angle so as to spiral and lay flat against the tapered leg. Because of the adhesive attachment of the hook portion of the strap to the outer wall of the shell, the angle is fixed. Further, in order to secure the outer end of the strap once it is wrapped around the wall supports and the leg, a circular area of hook material must be adhesively attached to the outside of the loop portion of the strap such that the outer end of the loop portion, after encircling the leg, will engage the circular hook portion to securely hold it.
Thus a disadvantage of the prior art device is that the angle at which the straps is adhered to the side wall portion is fixed. The strap must circle the leg at an angle, thus leaving a portion of the attachment hooks exposed. This exposed portion of the attachment hooks engages other material that comes in the vicinity thereof, such as trousers, ladies' stockings and the like. Further, because the attached hook portion is short, the additional circular area of hook material must be placed on the outside of the loop portion of the strap at a distance from the attached hook portion on the side wall portion. This extra hook material requires a more difficult process in forming the straps because it must be added on the outer side thereof. Further, because the hook material is adhesively adhered to the side wall portion, the straps have to be wrapped around the leg at the preset angle.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an improved ankle brace attaching straps pivotally attached to the side wall portions so that their alignment to the leg can conform to the individual rather than being preset. Further, the orientation in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction can be changed to individual preference. Both straps may encircle the leg in a first direction or a second direction or one of the straps can encircle the leg in one direction and the other strap can encircle the leg in the other direction.
Further, the attaching straps of the present invention are made of 11/2 strip of plastic hook Velcro welded to a length of 2" loop material. Because the hook portion is of molded plastic, its end can be reformed by ultrasonic energy into a flat section simultaneously with its welding to the loop. The now flattened plastic can then by die cut to the finished shape and a hole appears therein reinforced for attachment by a rivet to the side wall portion. This arrangement has several advantages over the prior art. Because the straps are swiveled, their alignment to the leg can conform to the individual rather than being preset. Further, because the hook portion is nonadhesively secured to the stirrup, it can be longer, extending well past the edge of the wall support. This makes possible the use of the narrower material without sacrificing strength. This narrow strip of material makes possible the total covering of the hook by the loop. Finally, cost savings are significant. Pressure-sensitive hook and loop material is extremely expensive and the present invention decreases its use. Because the hook is longer, the separate circular area of hook material which tethers the loose end is eliminated. The entire process of strap manufacture is thus simplified.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved ankle brace which has side wall support to which at least one of the supports is pivotally attached an attachment strap.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved ankle brace in which the attachment strap has a first portion pivotally attached to the side wall support and having a first width and a second portion attached to the first portion and having a larger width such that when the strap is wrapped around and encircles the leg, it will entirely cover the exposed hook portion of the strap.